Be that as it may, I would be remiss I suppose, if I didn't post my impressions and culinary exploits here. That's what this damn thing is for. Aaaand the german amazon hasn't quite gotten around to delivering my book to me here in Switzerland. Bastards.
So anyway, Italy.
Due to my inordinate and inexplicable love for italian food (my family is WASP through and through) and warm, sunny places, I have always imagined that Italy would be a happy place for me. You know, the kind of place you visit and it just clicks and you say "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!"
As you can see, I went with high expectations. Quite high.
I was not disappointed in the slightest.
I'll give you the less interesting things in a high-speed rundown:
Hotel: FANTASTIC. If you go, stay at the Hotel Cellai. The deskpeople are lovely, helpful and fluent in a variety of languages. Make sure you specify what kind of a room you want, because it's a boutique hotel, not Best Western. They have small rooms and pimp rooms. We asked and we received, if you know what I mean.
Shopping: Good enough to make a girl weak in the knees. They have (as apparently most European countries/cities do) annual sales in January/February and July/August. Really, really fantastic. Be prepared to hemorrhage money and be thankful for the opportunity.
Locals: Well, in the Summer, the city is overrun with Americans. Some of them look italian, some of them don't. The locals we encountered in retail and gastronomy were helpful and English-speaking. Bus/Tram drivers also very helpful, not so fluent in the foreign languages but verrry fluent in sign language. And you don't have the feeling that people are perpetually trying to snow you. Italy does somehow have that reputation and I can say that the worst thing that happened to us was that we got overcharged for one of the lemon sodas that the Schatz got addicted to during our stay. Really, coulda been a lot worse.
The City: Breathtaking. A little stinky in the summer because lots of the less fortunate like to pee in the sidestreets (do NOT assume that liquid on the ground is water, EVER.) but aside from that there is so much of the old architecture that's been preserved, so many goregous piazzas and cathedrals and duomos and old statues that you get the feeling you could change people's clothes and the stores and easily be in another century.
Funny related sidestory and the reason we have decent pictures of this escapade at all:
I actually set foot on this journey thinking that I'd be able to take all necessary photos with my phone. My old camera was broken in a drunken incident at the beginning of the year which I believe was also chronicled here, but bygones. Anyway I really did think that my lovely little BBbold would do Florence justice. We got in late and after dinner we went for a walk in the city. Just kind of meandering because that's what we do well and out of nowhere I saw this really breathtaking cathedral. The street ended in a huge central square and I'm staring at one of the most imposing churches I've ever seen (and as you know, I live on the old continent where they DO business churches). I looked at the Schatz, the Schatz looked at me and I said, "honey, we need a camera. NOW."
So we spent the first day asking around where the nearest, large electronics store was to be found. Successfully, might I add. Another testament to very helpful, English-speaking locals. So now we have a nice little sony. Nothing to write home about, but it got the job done.
That was the rundown. Now it's time for the grub.
The food we had was fantastic. We tried to do a good mix of everything--nice meals, street-food, take out, basic sit down meals so that we could get a real picture of what people eat there. Not just the tourists. I'm not going to write down everything we had, but I'll do a top 5. I'm not as good at food porn as Anthony Bordain, so I'm pretty sure a bite-by-bite chronicle of eight days worth of food might not be that entertaining.
(drumroll please.)
5. The mushroom strudel and the steak courses of our multi-course dinner. Divine.
4. Real buffalo mozarella in an insalata caprese. WHOAH. Real Mozarella TASTES like something!!!
3. Crazy things with rice. I in my ignorance, saw rice as the direct competition of pasta. This is not so.
2. These little fried soft salty chewy roll things we had the first night at dinner and never again.
1. PIADINE! Dear lord, find a place that serves them. Italian streetfood at it's finest. If you don't like it, you haven't had the right one yet.
I am now realizing that the things I liked the best and the things I took pictures of are two different kettles of fish. Probably because I was too busy stuffing my face with the deliciousness to commemorate the moment. Oh well. I do have what normal people would consider a ridiculous amount of food pictures. Most of which were taken before I realized that my camera had a specific setting for those types of pictures.
The motto of the story?
Go, try the shellfish and generally enjoy yourself. I highly recommend it.
